Breaking In

Breaking In

Starring Gabrielle Union, Billy Burke, Ajiona Alexus, Seth Carr

Directed by James McTeigue

The Story:
After her possible-felon father is killed, estranged daughter Shaun (Gabrielle Union), her teenage daughter Jasmine (Ajiona Alexus), and younger son Glover (Seth Carr) travel to Wisconsin to sell her father's vastly huge estate.  Once arriving, they find the house under full lockdown, with cameras all over the place, and the most high tech security system known to man.

However, this doesn't deter Eddie (Billy Burke) and his crew from breaking into the house in order to find a safe loaded with cash, and Shaun and her children end up in the crossfire.  With the lives of her children at risk, Shaun will stop at nothing to rescue them and make it out of the night alive.

The Synopsis:
Christina Simoes and her 18-month-old child were trapped in their apartment on the third story after it caught fire, and she wrapped the baby in her arms and jumped.  Both survived.

When her car rolled down a busy street with her twin girls in the back seat, mother Mindy Tran threw herself beneath the tires to slow the vehicle so neighbors could help stop it.

Mom Maureen Lee was picking berries with her three-year-old daughter when a cougar attacked, grabbing the little girl.  Lee wedged herself between the cougar and her child, stood up with the cat on her back and threw it off.

All three stories are true, and proves the theory that parents - mothers specifically - can muster up superhuman strength in order to protect her children.  That's the basis for "Breaking In" from director James McTeigue ("V for Vendetta"): four robbers break into a home, holding the children hostage while their mother finds a way to save her babies by any means necessary.  While the concept is truly heroic, and Gabrielle Union emerges from the shadows of stardom to once again dominate the big screen, the film stumbles from start to finish with insane plot holes, a tired script, a highly predictable outcome, and actors who don't even seem to want to be there.

Seeing the trailer awhile ago, I already could tell how the film was going to end, and by that means there's no disappointment.  There's no M. Night twist involving aliens or ghosts, no Michael Bay-inspired explosions that light the screen, and no Tarantino-style fighting, but instead it's just a simple story of revenge and protection.  Generally, there's characters to really root for and others to really hate, but everyone involved gives such a flatline performance you don't really care about the outcome, because from the start you just know there's not going to be anything new or exciting thrown in.

Gabrielle Union shot to stardom in the 2000 comedy "Bring It On," and since then she's slowly relegated to the background, and eventual obscurity, instead spending her time getting married to basketball great Dwyane Wade.  She was a shining star in her day, and when I saw she was going to be in another big budget film, I was excited: she's always been one of my more underrated actresses, and seeing her all grown up and kicking butt was the sole highlight of the film.  Sure, the fact that she suddenly gained tactical knowledge like she spend decades as a spy, or suddenly knew the ways of the ninja, or watched the entire series of "MacGyver" in the event of this particular situation happening could've turned me off to the reality of this film, but there's very little reality to be had - save for the fact of a mother going to bat to save her children.

That's the premise of the film, and that's the only premise it has.  There's no time for nuance performance or low-key thrills (except for one, but even that I saw coming a mile away) when you're telling a simple story of mother bear going to town on those who threaten her cubs.  This is the epitome of "girl power" as the sole girl goes up against a group of rugged, tough, no-holds-barred men, a point that even the main villain makes: "You are a woman alone at the mercy of strangers."  You can just imagine Union saying, "oh no, he didn't just say that!" as she goes about proving how strong a woman alone at the mercy of strangers could be.

Speaking of the strangers, we're given such stock-type characters they might as well have that watermark around them copy-writing them against other use.  Mark Furze plays Peter, the technical nerd of the group who doesn't use a cell phone because the NSA is listening to him, and of course he's the first one Shaun subdues (get it?  He's the one without a phone!  So she can't just call the police and end the movie early!  Genius!).  Levi Meaden plays Sam, the blonde-tipped (N'Sync wants their style back) pretty boy who doesn't want to hurt anyone and feels like they're in order their heads.  Richard Cabral plays Duncan, the stereotypical Latino who just wants to kill everyone (when they find the money, I half expected him to start stabbing the money).  Billy Burke plays Eddie, the ringleader who does the ringleader trope incredibly well - he's cocky, feels like he's one step ahead, and offers the expository dialogue so we don't have to use our one brain cell we spend on this film understanding what's happening ("she won't call the police, we have her kids."  "She's smart, but we have her kids.  Now she's desperate."  "We have her kids."  WE GET IT!). 

The children are also about as typical as they come, and provide very little in the ways of actual aide.  Ajiona Alexus' Jasmine is your typical tweenage girl who spends her time on her phone, and when it hits the fan she clomps around like Bigfoot and talks in a volume level to that of a blaring bullhorn.  Seth Carr's Glover is of course a genius kid in technology, who spends his time wondering where his mother is, if the police are coming, or if they'll make it out alive.  Both offer little more than that, and leaves me to believe their father did more of their raising than their mother, because they would've at least learned parkour kung-fu or something.

The Summary:
When it all boils down, "Breaking In" is just another ho-hum breaking and entering film that we've seen countless times before, and one that will be relegated to the back of our minds after watching it, and proves that Gabrielle Union deserves much better roles in the future.

The Score: C-